the early vote numbers. but what is not too bad about that is that republicans tend to vote later. you will see this gap closing, closing, the closer we get to election day. the plurality of host: i want to play you a clip from president obama yesterday and some of the comments he made. >> there is no more serious issue in the presidential campaign then who can you trust? trust matters. who is going to look out for you? and here is the thing. nevada, you know me by now. you know i say what i mean, and i mean what i say. we have not finished everything we set out to do in 2008 but you know every single day i set foot in that office i am thinking about you.

host: do you think that argument is going over well with voters out there? guest: i don't really think it is. we have the highest place of unemployment in the country and the highest foreclosure rate in the country. president obama has not been good for nevada. all these statistics show that we are worse off now than we were four years ago. it is time to put somebody else in there. that is why you see the polls narrowing the closer we get to the election. host: we are taking your calls in this segment. this is former state party chairman dan burdish. give us a call. we still have that line set up for nevada residents.

will go right now to joe in richmond, indiana, on the republican line. caller: thank you very much. i'd appreciate you taking our calls -- i appreciate you taking our calls. nevada definitely has a need as far as support and things like this. i truly feel president obama has had four years which we hear a lot of rhetoric but the truth is in the fruits of the person. we need to desperately turn our country to where our economy can be brought back. i feel governor romney would fill that for us. we need to take a stand for what is right.

we need to take a look at what they have done. the background parts of the world with a reach out and do things that are right. i just encourage all the voters in nevada to truly look at what their needs are and what promises have been given. host: will go to one of those voters in nevada on the democratic line. caller: how are you today? basically what i wanted to know is when the democrats took the presidential race, they inherited a tremendous mess. do you really think that the republicans could have cleaned up what was created by a republican party in four years?

guest: thank you for your call. it was not just the republicans. we had a republican president. republicans and democrats created this mess and it is something that has to be cleaned up by both parties. the democratic president has not tried to clean it up. all he has tried to do is jam down obamacare in our throats. the over-regulation that we have. it is almost impossible for you to start a business in hawthorne or anyplace else to create jobs. what the president is trying to do is have the government do that.

that is not the government's job. the government job is to create a stable economy said the individual can do that. host: a viewer writes in on twitter -- we have talk about the latino vote out there. i want to get your take on how well the republican party has done this time around. guest: i think they have done a lousy job. we have marco rubio out here. instead of taking him into the latino sections of las vegas, they take him out to green valley and anderson. we need to go to the latinos. we cannot sit back and expect them to come to us. the democrats have done a great job on this.

they unions push their members who are predominantly hispanic to register and vote democrat. the republicans have not done that. host: is it too late at this point for republicans to get that vote? guest: i don't know if it is too late. we need to get latinos explaining to latinos why the republicans should be their choice. i start to see that. host: let go out to california on the independent line. caller: i think all american citizens should be protected. what happened in benghazi is our military was put on alert right away and our president

made our military stand down and not protect american citizens because it is political. what is really going on? it is a new world order and we need to stop this. we need to think about america and america only right now. guest: i would think form policies should be focused on because we have such a large concentration. up in hawthorne, we have the depot for munitions and a lot of servicemen but i do not see it as a major issue. we are hurting so economically that we tend to need nothing but jobs, jobs, jobs. host: right wing writes in on twitter --

again, we have about 15 minutes left in this segment on nevada. opening it up to your calls. we will go to a new york resident right now on the republican line. good morning, bill. caller: hi. could you remind the people of nevada how obama went after all the corporations, bringing their corporate jets into las vegas and stopped them from coming in which literally destroyed the economy of las vegas? i don't understand how people do not see through this. could you say something about that?

guest: do not comment throw your cash away in las vegas -- he said do not comment throw your cash away in las vegas. host: when did he say that? guest: in 2009, he was talking about corporations coming in here and having their -- my mind is not working. pardon me. bringing trade shows and having their annual retreats here. he said do not come to vegas and throw your money away on the table. that was a big issue in the 2010 campaign but is less of an issue here. it is not a big deal and it should be. when you have a president telling people not to come to vegas and you are in vegas, shouldn't that be a part of the campaign? host: what are you going to be looking for on election night to tell you which way this election is going?

guest: in nevada, if they can keep president obama to 51% in the las vegas area, we can eek out a win in nevada. the race -- statewide races in this state tend to be won in the reno area. las vegas always good democrat. the rural counties always go republican. they tend to even themselves out. we win or lose in reno. that is how it is going to be. that is how it has been since 1988. it is going to be that this year. that is why i think everyone is talking about how close the dean heller-shelley berkley race is. i think that is going to be a four-point race for dean heller.

host: let's go to james on the democratic line. you are on with dan burdish, a former executive director of the nevada republican party. caller: a lot of the things you are saying are misleading and incorrect. mitt romney does not have a good jobs record. a lot of other things he claimed to have done bipartisan, i think democrats are more willing to work together. that has been shown throughout the years. as far as obama not having any jobs plan, republicans do not want to vote for them or put their own ideas into place. there is really nothing that mitt romney can do.

that is just plain and simple. guest: it is not just plain and simple. governor romney has a five- point plan to bring jobs to this country. you can go to his website and look at it. i do not mean to put down government workers. however, you cannot build this country by putting us deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper into debt. it just does not work. host: do you think mr. romney can get to the 6% unemployment rate he talked about in that speech yesterday? guest: i would hope so.

we have such a pent-up demand in this country. corporations are just looking for a reason to start rebuilding. there is so much cash, like $500 billion in cash. a has to be more than that. i was thinking 500 trillion dollars but that is too much. there is so much demand and corporations have no idea what to do. our congress is just sitting by being partisan. we cannot have that. let's go to another las vegas voter. caller: i lived in north las vegas. leadership has been dismal. we are in bankruptcy right now. the city of las vegas is

bankrupt. we have no republican leadership. the leadership here is in the tank. let me say something else. if it were not for the jobs act, we would not have -- harry reid has been a great thing getting our watershed. that is federally funded money that is helping two areas, with the rain water and our roads. outside of that, we have nothing. the swap meets are doing much better than anything else in the north las vegas. they do better than the casinos'. who want to spend their money in this economy in the casinos? host: he brings up harry reid. how is he playing in both the

presidential and senate race out there? guest: harry reid has put together a machine that is second to none. i think that is the only reason barack obama is doing well here. he made a concerted effort to put together a machine for the democrat party that was going to do nothing but support him and who he wants to support. as far as north las vegas, it is near bankrupt for one reason. they have the highest public union salaries of any city in the state. their city council and there may have rolled over to the unions and have done nothing but to increase salaries. that is why north las vegas is going broke. that and the fact they had a

perfectly good city hall and decided we wanted a taj mahal. they built something that is only 25% to 40% occupied at this point. number las vegas was mismanaged and that is why is going broke -- north las vegas was mismanaged and that is why it is going broke. caller: above the other caller who called about las vegas and not going there and what obama said, i think that was in 2009 right after aig got the bailout. the only part of aig that made a profit and spent i think $700,000 or whatever, and then barack obama just slammed them. they never mentioned corporations award their workers for being profitable. it is not free. they do pay taxes. i don't understand why they do not mention that. host: this is from february 3, 2010. speaking about the economy at

an event in new hampshire, mr. obama told americans when times are tough, you tighten your belt. that is from february 2010. guest: she is right. when you come out here for an awards banquet or a trade show, corporations do not just spend money to spend money. they bring people out here to increase productivity.

a trade show let your competitors know what you're doing. we are the number one convention destination in the united states because we built that up. when you have a president's saying do not go to vegas, it hurts us. host: we will take a call now on the democratic line. denise, are you there? i want to ask you about the question of ron paul voters in nevada and how they are going to play in this race. at the nominating convention, some of his supporters tried to challenge what the state was trying to nominate. correct? guest: yes. i was an alternate to the convention. i was there.

they voted against what our rules were. there is a controversy here on that. there are two different ron paul supporters. there are those who could care less who it is as long as it is not ron paul. then you have the rational ron paul people who are going to look at barack obama or mitt romney. to those people, there is a major difference and they are going to come down on the side of mitt romney. the others are saying the republican party did not nominate ron paul so we are going to vote for obama. host: are there enough of this to affect the election? guest: i doubt it. it is a very, very small minority. host: let's go to mary from

ohio this morning on the republican line. caller: yes. i would like to question president obama on one thing. about the morality of -- he supports abortion and all these things, but i am an evangelical christian and my bible tells me what things are wrong and what is not. he seemed like he is on both sides of the fence. he wants to have abortion but he does not pay attention to what god's words are. host: i want to get your thoughts on how the issue of rape and abortion especially after the comments from the republican senate candidate in indiana are going to play out their in nevada.

guest: we do not have a big social conservative following here in nevada. we are more of a libertarian state. there have been times -- i did not have anything to do with it. we did not even take a stance on abortion. the evangelicals are not a major influence on the republican party here. what we are looking at for republicans and democrats is jobs, jobs, jobs. that is what it comes down to. we don't have anyone running on any of the social issues in this state. host: want to ask you about the

role of the mormon vote in nevada. guest: the mormons are about 11% of the population and tend to be both parties. . reed is a mormon. -- harry reid is a mormom. some of our major political figures are mormon. i think a lot of mormons whether they are democrat or republican are going to be voting for mitt romney. host: let's go to michael from florida up on the independent line. caller: good morning. here is my point. we are all americans. the republican party is like gang-related. they fight and tell us this and that, but nothing gets done. i am going to vote for obama because he was handed a crisis and he has done his best putting americans back to work.

mitt romney says 47%. then he goes and insults them and nobody says nothing about that. host: we went to give you the last comment of what you think will happen in the next 12 days. guest: i have been very impressed with the mitt romney campaign. they are running on the economy and jobs, and i think they are going to do that for the next 12 days. mitt romney was here yesterday and the day before. president obama was here

yesterday. i think they are going to stay on message and stay on the economy. that is what they need to do. host: dan burdish, former executive director of the nevada republican party, thank you so much for joining us on nevada. guest: thank you. host: make sure to join us back here tomorrow when we will continue our series with wisconsin. >> our guest, craig gilbert from the sentinel. brian schimming, and the chairman, mike tate. we will look at housing policy with raemeka mao and josh boak. live every day at 7:00 eastern. >> watch our coverage of the presidential candidates plus

races from a run the country. some of the key debates are scheduled over the next four hours starting with the credits for senate and ohio. in one hour, it is a debate from the house district. after that, new mexico senate candidates. >> several like evens to tell the about tomorrow. topics include u.s. relations with saudi arabia and a feature of the israeli-palestinian conflict. a form on implementing the dodd- frank financial regulations lot. speakers include the former head of the fdic. we will also be covering a speech by mitt romney. he is in answer, i'll of

focusing on the economy. that is just after 1:00 eastern. >> one of 10,000 homes that they are trying to get done in the next four years. these are houses that are never going back. >> one-family every 20 minutes moving out. >> these houses are disappearing from the landscape. >> 90,000 right now ready to go. >> recently 164 firefighters were laid off as part of the downsizing, the effort to give finances under control in the city.

so firefighters are laid off. about two weeks later, 100 guys are rehired. when you look to find out where that money came from, it is actually the department of common security has a fund for things like that. i do not want to overstate, but that is something you want to think about. the department of common security needed to step in to keep detroit as safe as it can be at the moment. i wondered making this film, we have seen the auto industry bailout, the bank bailouts, are we heading into an era of bail out for cities? is there such a thing as a failed city? >> more with heidi ewing sunday at 8:00. >> now, the final debate between sherrod brown and josh mandel.

mr. mandel is the ohio state treasurer. it is courtesy of wlwt in cincinnati. >> good evening and thank you for joining us. there may be no bigger battle ground states that ohio. there is no bigger battleground than hamilton county where we are here in cincinnati. welcome to the third and final debate between the two men vying to be one of two voices in the senate. this is the only debate televised live. thanks to all of the nbc stations here and ohio. mandel says it it is time for a change and a new voice in

washington to put the nation on a better course. we have a live audience here. i promised them i would give them a chance to applaud both of these nice gentlemen running for senate. there is your queue. [applause] in exchange, they have agreed to keep the applause down so we can get a lot of questions. both have a chance to make their best case to you without having to add the words "i approve this message." we have a panel of questioners. each candidate will have 90 seconds to respond, followed by one minute responses from the opponent and a 32nd rebuttal going the other way. mandel 1 a:toss and elected to

give his opening remarks last. we begin with senator brown. >> thank you to nbc. 2006, i stood before voters and promised i would fight for the middle class if elected to the senate. that is what i have done for the six years. my pledge to you tonight is i renew that promise, and i will continue my fight for the middle class. being a senator is a lot about listening and learning. i held more than 200 round tables in ohio. 15-20 people, i will ask some questions for two hours and take those one of the most mineral discussions i had was with a gentle man who worked in a toledo plant who was afraid that his plant was going to close. he said, how do i support my family? how can i pay my mortgage? how can my daughter continue her studies? i knew that i had to go to work.

i've worked with president bush in the fall of 2008, with president obama in the winter of 2009. we knew how important automobiles are up to ohio. 800,000 vehicles are connected to the auto industry. it is not just the big auto assembly plant. it is the steel plant just up the road. it is the plant that makes components for airbags in brunswick. we knew that this had to be bipartisan, we knew it had to be a partnership between the fog roll government and local communities, local businesses, small and large alike. we stepped up and did it. now, my point is says that my vote was on american, an american.

to me, that a vote was doing my job to fight for their jobs. >> i would like to think nbc and the aarp and everyone is viewing and tonight. my name is josh mandel and i'm running for the u.s. senate. i am running for the senate because washington is broken. here in ohio, one in every four children is in poverty. this is unacceptable. in order to change washington, we have to change the leaders we said there. over the next hour, i look forward to having an opportunity to tell you about my specific jobs plan to bring new jobs right here to the state of ohio. unfortunately, in washington, things are broken when it comes to economic development, when it comes to growing the economy right here in the state of ohio. i believe washington can take a little lesson from what we have done here in ohio.

look at the state treasurer's office. we have earned the highest rate on our bonds and investments. our portfolio is up over $2 billion since the death took office. we have navigated the european sovereign debt crisis not only with a loss but with a yield on behalf of taxpayers and we have done this well voluntarily cutting our budget. compare that to washington and the failed record where they have not passed a budget for over three years. the u.s. credit rating was downgraded for the first time in american history under sherrod brown's. over the next hour, you will probably hear him attack me. he has used most of his money and most of his time attacking me. the question that senator brown is getting throughout the state of ohio from democrats, republicans, and independence is for a guy that has been running for political office since richard nixon is present, to have a few good things to say about your record?

he doesn't. he has been in washington for 20 years and it is a record of failure. he talks about setting up for the middle class but the reality is that he stood on the middle class. during his time in washington, and employment rates, foreclosure rates up. health-care costs, up. senator, that is quite a record. the reality is that we need to change washington and the only way we will change washington is by changing the people we said there. >> before i get to the questions, i will start with a question for both of you basically on your careers. senator, you have been in congress 20 years. our recent poll shows that congress's approval rating is 12%. when you got into congress, it was a robust 27%. we know that congress is not a popular thing but it is even more unpopular today. how do you defend your time in washington? >> let me give you an example of how my experience works. i know what china trade has done to our state and a loss of

manufacturing, virtually every place in the state from medium- size cities like springfield, cleveland, toledo. i knew we had to address that issue. i went to the republican senators from north carolina, south carolina, alabama because i knew that china currency problems had afflicted their state's textile industry. i work with them in a bipartisan manner. we put a group of 8 people together. i'd let on that. that is because of expense i have had in washington is actually helping me to be a better senator. >> you are looking to hold your fourth political office and the last seven years. how do you assure ohio voters that this is not a stepping

stone, that you are going to be reliable, a consistent voice for six years? >> i signed a term limits pledge and i think that all politicians should sign the pledge. i stayed there a maximum of 12 years. i will go there with as much passion and energy as possible and make as much positive change as possible and then i will come home and live under the budget and laws that i credit. senator brown signed a term limits pledge when he ran in 1992. he promised to stay there for only 12 years. after 12 years he said, well, i changed my mind. i am enjoying my time in washington and he has been there for two decades. i will stay there for the longer than 12 years. i will do everything i can to bring jobs to ohio. then i will live by the same laws and rules that you live by. in washington, sherrod brown's popularity is pretty high, but here in ohio, it is pretty low. >> i talked to a man who is a father of three who has been out of work.

he was one of the 4000 people standing in line trying to get one of the positions at the horseshoe casino. if you win the election, how can you bring more jobs? >> first of all, look at what has happened. we were losing 300,000 jobs a month. our unemployment rate got higher than 10.6%. today, it is down to 7%. it is not good enough for that gentleman or the other is in line, but it is moving in the right direction but we got there because of the auto rescue. we got there because we are enforcing trade rules. there are jobs and there is a new steel mill in johnstown. more aluminum jobs in sydney and heath.

we focused on community colleges, job training, to match up what employers need. i was at cincinnati state the other day working with veterans. there is a program that came out of the veterans committee. we passed the vowed to higher heroes act. we're not there yet, we need to focus on this, but we're moving in the right direction in part because of these partnerships between the federal government with local businesses and local communities. >> since sherrod brown went to

washington, the unemployment rate for women has gone up but on a plan that rate for african-americans have gone up. on employment rates for the middle-class has gone up. that is a record of failure. first, we must make the tax code more friendly for small businesses. i would be proud to have larger employers and it is small businesses that drive the economy. when multinational corporations can filed a 50,000 page tax return and pay no taxes, it is a mark of a broken system. this is unfair to the middle- class and small businesses. we need a tax cut that is simpler for small businesses and middle-class that lower tax rates. secondly, the regulations that come out of washington are crushing small businesses and killing jobs. third, we must drill for oil in gas and irresponsible way affects the water that we drink and it creates jobs throughout the state of ohio. >> what we don't do is follow the economic path that we

followed it from 2000 until 2008 where congress -- i opposed this, but congress and the president gave huge tax cuts to the wealthy, hoping that it would trickle-down to the middle class. it did not do that. in the 90's, we saw 21 million jobs increase. that is the kind of policy that i want to follow. focus on the middle-class rather than top-down tax breaks that may or may not trickle down for this gentleman or any of those looking for work. >> do you believe that government can create jobs? >> i think is the role of the private sector to create jobs, not the federal government. one of the reasons we got into this mess was because the bailouts. sherrod brown took our taxpayers' money to bail out the big banks. i don't think that we should be bailing out large corporations

or banks on wall street. i think the private sector should drive the economy. i trust them a lot more than faceless bureaucrats. >> does the government create jobs? >> the government as part with the private sector to create jobs. right now, if a company sets down in norwood and moves to beijing, shanghai, they get a tax deduction against their federal taxes to do that. we have tried to eliminate that tax break that gives an incentive to go overseas and it has been filibustered in the senate. the auto rescue is the perfect example where the government partners with the private sector. i am proud of my work. >> treasurer mandel, you have not specifically indoors to the paul ryan budget plan which would transform medicaid and medicare and make overhauls of

many government programs. it is something that virtually all republicans in congress have supported. if elected, would you vote for the ryan budget plan, yes or no, why or why not? >> i've not come out in support that plan. i have a plan of my own. my parents are baby boomers. i believe is unfair to change medicare or social security whatsoever for my grandparents, for my grandmother and her generation, and my parents and their generation. one of the things that bothers me about the problems with social security is that politicians in washington, sherrod brown and others, have wrought and stole from the social security trust fund which funds social security for our senior citizens and they have used that for taxpayer- funded bailout of wall street

and large corporations. that should stay in the trust fund to save social security. it comes to medicare, we have to repeal the affordable care act. when senator brown cast the deciding vote on that piece of legislation, they took $716 billion away from medicare in order to fund obamacare. third, we need to make common- sense cuts in other parts of our government and ordered to fund social security and medicare far into the future. >> you have 60 seconds. >> i don't have a specific comment. >> you might have heard that answer. i know this sounds like washington speak, you vote yes or no. of course i voted against their ryan plan because of what it does to the middle class.

it is more tax cuts for the wealthiest people in the country, it is more spending on the military, dollars the department of defense did not ask for. it cuts right at the heart of the middle-class and the poor. it is cuts to college pell grants, cuts to stafford loans, cuts to education and health care programs that people rely on. that $700 billion myth that we hear about over and over again, if we had cut medicare, you would see less benefits in medicare. instead, seniors in this country have significantly more benefits on all kinds of preventive care, on savings in the prescription drugs because of the health care plan. >> that is definitely washington speak, talking around in circles. here's the reality. senator brown cut $716 billion from medicare. that is unfair to our senior citizens.

it is unfair to our baby boomers. it is unfair to others reaching the age of eligibility. i will take a backseat to no one when it comes to saving social security, saving medicare, and ensuring that these programs are funded far to the future. >> i will take a point of privilege. what does that mean? are you for raising, are either one of you for raising the retirement age in order to deal with medicare or social security? >> for my grandmother, who i mentioned, we should not change anything for medicare and social security. for my parents, who are baby boomers, we should not change it. my niece is 20 month old. we maintain the status quo. there will be no social security or medicare. obviously, for folks who are toddlers like my niece, or elementary school kids, we have to make changes. one of the things we should celebrate in this country is that people are living on three. we have increased life expectancy, improved health

care. >> what is your age limit of when you start doing that? what limit should you start looking at? >> we should look at folks who are least my age and maybe some who are older. for those that are baby boomers and senior citizens, it is unfair to change this. >> senator brown, you have been supportive of bowles-simpson and there are changes to the retirement age. >> i will give you a specific answer, no and no. i met a woman in youngstown a few months ago who said that i am 63 years old and i don't have health insurance. i just want to stay alive until i turn 65 so i can get health insurance.

if you raise the retirement age for people on medicare, maybe if you dress like this, you're the state treasurer or a u.s. senator, maybe it works. but for a lot of americans, it does not. >> does it work for anybody? >> you don't raise the cost. >> you don't raise the retirement age. for people that work in diners, they cannot work until 70. i would not cut benefits or raise the retirement age but i would think about raising the cap. the social security problems are not -- if you can find a way maybe with $300,000, $400,000, we can talk about that in detail. i can give you specifics. >> i guess i have not heard an answer. anyone watching at home has not heard an answer yet. i yield the rest of my time.

what did you do with that money in the cells to secrete trust fund? >> i came here to talk about issues, not to make accusations. let me explain to you. 1940, when the first check was sent out, when fdr signed it, franklin roosevelt, there has never been one of late payment. there has never been one failure to pay for social security. the fact is that it has worked for 75 years. there are counting issues that i disagree with that which would change, but the fact is that it is reliable, and it will be reliable for this generation, the next generation. >> where does it go? what did you do with it? >> let me move on to the next question. >> my question is for senator brown. you were part of the auto bailout which you voted for as

saving hundreds of thousands of dollars. the federal government stands to lose $25 billion on in the investment with gm. is that too steep a price tag? >> i do not entirely agree with the presumption that the federal government stands to lose. i think that right now, the stock price suggests that there could be some long-term issues. but, i told you the story of the workers. i can talk to people at the line at the ford plant. i can talk to the people outside of dayton that supply gm and other companies. i can tell you literally hundreds of stories of people whose homes were saved, whose families are getting an education, who are getting along okay today because of that rescue. that is why people came together. that is why senator voinovich, republicans and democrats alike, it was not perfect, but look at where we are.

we had 10.6% unemployment rate in 2010, now is 7%. it is going down. 20% of the gdp since the auto rescue. that has come from automobiles, 20%. a sharonville plant is hiring people for the first time in 12 years. honda has invested 100 million new dollars in their plants. chrysler and gm have invested 500 billion in the last year alone. that is huge progress.

it is clearly what keeps the middle-class going. >> you have just heard revisionist history from senator brown. he was not elected in 2010, he was elected in 2006 and he has been in washington for two decades. he attacked his opponent on high unemployment rates. since he has been in washington, unemployment rates have gone up and up for the middle-class come up for women come up for african-americans. you have not heard him mention the bailout. middle-class employees. men and women in the 60's and 70's who lost most of their pensions. they were planning on these to live far into old age and he supported a process that stripped them of their pensions. i could not have supported a process that stripped them of their pensions. >> i never said i was elected in

2010. i said i went to work with senator voinovich in 2008 to save this industry. all of this about the workers. i am very concerned about the workers. i have done all kinds of things to protect them. it was gm who made the decision to shortchange the workers and not talk off the pensions. i fought over this, i proposed legislation to change this. i want to make this happen. if we had not done this rescue, the delphi workers would have had it worse than they do now. that does not satisfy me, but i will continue to go to bat. >> is there a bailout that would have supported in an industry here in ohio? would there have been a breaking point we said, we have

to give the auto industry something? >> i am not a bailout senator. there is no government bailout that i can think of that i could never support. if you are looking for a bailout senator, that is sherrod brown. he used your tax dollars to bail out wall street and large corporations. i will not take your tax dollars and use them to bail out wall street and large corporations. >> go down to the street and talk to the management. they understand banks. one of the banks that you railed against i think is supporting you. a number of other regional banks are in business because we stepped up. the point is that you what would you have done. would you not have done what president bush and senator voinovich wanted to do? just let this industry fall apart? i know it is a good talking point for you, kind of empty slogans and poll-tested kinds of statements, but i wonder what you would have done to help the middle class in the state.

you have come up with nothing to say how you would want to help the middle class. >> i will give you a few minutes to respond. >> well, i talked earlier about part of my jobs plan. talks reform for small businesses, regulatory reform, also of drilling for gas in the state of ohio. we need to do everything we can to help blue-collar workers. my grandfather was a member of the united autoworkers union. my grandparents were immigrants from italy. they put the food on the table, the sacrifice of the mother could go to community college. that is america, that is the

strength of the middle class. that is what i will fight for in washington. >> so, there is no government money, government assistance. so, there is no government assistance? >> i would have followed a different process. i believe that if we would have done that, these companies would have come out even stronger and these blue-collar men and women who work for the auto companies would have come out much stronger and the retirees would have actually had their pensions. >> we're about to take a break but before we go, a model supreme court justice. >> justice scalia. >> justice sotomayor. >> we have to take a break. when we come back we'll talk about social justice and the role of washington. >> welcome back to the third and

final debate. this is part of a highly contentious campaign season. we are seeing it outside of the studio. supporters for both of you screaming, yelling, take each other signs. the word liar was used by you. name two issues where you can find common ground with the other side of the aisle or maybe with each other. >> one of the issues were i can found common ground with the other side is stopping to use our talks dollars as welfare to foreign countries that harbor terrorists. -- our tax dollars as welfare to foreign countries that harbor terrorists. a few months ago, they voted to give $1 billion of your tax money to pakistan. right in the wake of pakistan convicted for trees in the guy who helped us find osama bin laden. they're giving more money to

libya where our embassy was overrun. egypt, where the guy from a terrorist organization, the muslim brotherhood is running the country. women are treated as second- class citizens. we are not operating in just a vacuum. we are operating in an economic environment in which we have a 16 trillion dollar debt in washington. families are struggling. he keeps sending our tax dollars to these foreign countries. we need that money here to the american people. we will stop your tax dollars from going to these foreign countries. secondly, energy exploration. i support a lot of what joe manchin stands for when it comes to responsible exploration of coal, oil, gas, through job creation here in ohio and through the u.s.. senator brown is trying to stop

exploration here in ohio. it does not support our coal mining families. i will work with the democratic senator right next door to keep these energy jobs here in ohio. i believe in >> senator -- >> most of what josh said wasn't true, about where we spend money, and energy exploration. let me answer it this way. i told you about the roundtables. a farmer told me we can save billions of dollars taking away the farm subsidies with a better safety net. i went to sen. thune from south dakota. he got it amended into the farm bill and it passed in july. it can be the china currency bill. i teamed up with kay bailey hutchinson -- i can list 10 or 15 things that were good, bipartisan efforts that are making a difference.

>> treasurer mandel? >> that is washington speak. he's been in washington two decades. he has voted with his political party 95% of the time. he's a rubber stamp. i will stay away from the bosses on both sides and lobbyists and very powerful interests. my boss is the 11.5 million people in ohio. nobody will push me around. >> sen. brown. the senate -- they have not passed a budget in the last three years. senator, your party has been in charge of the senate in that

time. how much blame do you share for that? have you had a conversation with sen. reid about how the senate isn't doing its job. >> i don't agree with that assumption. on the 96% -- 96% he voted with the republicans. the only time is when he voted for payday lenders then went to the bahamas. the budget resolution is passed by the house and senate. it is a blueprint, but it doesn't have the force of law. yet passed the budget control and, signed by the president of the eds states to drop $2.50 trillion. he says that we did not pass the budget but the budget

control light, which has the force of law and cut $2 trillion, is making a difference in getting our budget under control. i would add that i was part of the budget in the 1990's when we got to the budget surplus. i did not vote for the war or the tax cuts for the rich. with the giveaways to the drug companies that blow a hole in the budget. we had the biggest budget surplus to the biggest budget deficit in 2008. >> so you believe the senate is doing their job? >> i think that they did the

right thing in the budget control act. this includes revenue and going after these tax loopholes. the politicians who signed the pledge to the lobbyists grover norquist -- >> i will give you 60 seconds to respond. >> sitting around your kitchen tables you can't go three months without managing your finances. you can't go three weeks without managing the budget for your small business. but he and other career politicians have gone three years since they passed a budget. he talks about the budget control act. if you are watching this, think for a second. do you have the budget control act in your small business? this is washington speak. we manage our small business with the budget. but these politicians to think that they can live by different set of rules. after you've been there 20 years i think this is what happens.

i support the proposal this is, no budget, no pay. >> this is a good sound bite but it doesn't get us to where we need to be. we passed the budget that does to the biggest budget surplus in american history. because of grover norquist, and george said that we will never be able, if republicans keep citing his pledge, we will never get to a balanced budget. he says not only can you increase revenues, asking the wealthiest taxpayers to pay more, you cannot stop the outsourcing of jobs by taking away the tax break that corporations get when they move jobs. you can talk about this but you have to have a balanced

approach. >> but you have not passed the budget -- you can do this on a partisan vote. the house passed a partisan -- a partisan budget. why didn't harry reid do this? >> the budget control and cut $2 trillion from spending. we cannot get closer to a balanced budget because of the lobbyist pledge. this said no tax increase for upper-income people, -- >> did not want to pass this with only democratic votes? >> this is not the issue. you have to have the balanced approach with revenues and tax loopholes. this was $2 trillion in cuts. this is not a game without the budget control act. >> the next question is to you, and we will continue the conversation. >> you have portrayed herself as an outsider and say that you will not be holding to anyone,

the lobbyists or member of your own party, but you signed the pledge by grover norquist, who is a registered lobbyist. not ever raise taxes. how is this that you consign this pledge, and say that you are not beholden to someone who was an insider in washington? >> i am proud to stand up for lower taxes. i don't believe we can tax our way to prosperity. i will fight tooth and nail to lower taxes for small businesses and job creators and middle-class families. compare that to washington and shared brown, in washington he has raised taxes 36 times. 36 times during his 20 years in

washington. he did not pay his taxes once, he did not pay his taxes three times. he is raising your taxes and is not paying his own. when he was asked why he did not pay his taxes, his answer was that he forgot. maybe the understand that once or twice but three times, you forgot to pay your taxes? you are on the banking committee that deals with mortgages. if you are not paying your own taxes. the reason congress has a 10% approval rating, is because they think they can live by one set of rules. it is so proud to stand up for lower taxes. i helped pass the first property tax rollback in the history of the county. >> this is simply not true, again, but i have come to expect that.

he did not answer the question about grover norquist. it is not just talking about middle-class taxes. he has a fast against raising taxes on hedge fund operators, who pays more than mitt romney does and most of us to. -- lower than mitt romney and most of us do. he says you cannot raise taxes on many millionaires were millionaires. the worst part is, i know the oil industry is your friend, but you can't close tax loopholes for the oil industry, or these companies that outsource jobs. you are be holden, not that your chances of going to the senate are that high, but you are be holden to so many interest groups before you even -- before the election, even. all of these people who want to keep washington going the way that it is.

>> when we started this campaign, our chances of going to washington were relatively slim and we were down 17 points. the recent poll had a sorry but up one. . one reason is because there is-- up one point. one reason is because there is such a mix of people who are sick of the washington speak, to live by one set of rules. i will live by the same rules that all of you have to live by. putting food on the table for your families every day. >> the front page of this morning's wall street journal had a chief executives -- including macy's coming out to say, some taxes have to go up. is there any circumstance we will vote for a tax increase. >> i believe we should lower taxes across the board -- lowering taxes for middle-class

and job creators, and small businesses. i believe the tax code is completely broken with large, multinational corporations with 50,000 page tax returns to pay zero taxes. this is unfair to the middle- class and small businesses. in washington i will raise that -- i will lower taxes and not raise taxes. when i go to washington i will lower taxes. we will grow our way out of this problem. lower class is for small businesses and the middle-class. >> senator, do you believe that you can lower rates and raise revenue? is this realistic? lowering rates, which is what some symbols -- simpson-bowles tried to do?

>> this will have to be a balanced plan, and we will have to put pressure on the candidates who signed the pledge to grover norquist. the $2 trillion that we cut with the budget control act, this means closing tax loopholes, this means medicare saving money by negotiating drug prices directly. rea importation with canada. there are a lot of ways to save billions of dollars. we can say that we will always beat for lower taxes. we have cut taxes many times and i will continue to do that. but this will have to be a balance plan. >> i want to go back to something that mr. mandel was talking about. you attack them -- and now you are exceeding president obama's

agenda 96% of the time. is this one-sided? >> what i have done is taken on the president of my own party when i think he is wrong. i disagreed with president clinton as a freshman member of the house on the north american free trade agreement. it was not easy opposing the president of the united states as a freshman member of congress and i have done this with barack obama on trade issues. i have done this with banking issues. on too big to fail, my legislation to break up the sixth largest trillion-dollar banks in this country, we lost on that but the support for this is growing. i have never had problems taking on the president of my own party.

and i will not. >> you have 60 seconds. >> rather than listening to the rhetoric, look at the record. he has voted 96% of the time with his party. when i was a city councilman in lyndhurst, ohio, i introduced the first property-tax rollback in the history of our city. we give tax relief to senior citizens and working families. i worked in a bipartisan fashion -- and we reconstructed the oversight to the workers' compensation investment fund. i worked in a bipartisan way to pass down the budget and try to keep young people in ohio. identified the exports with ohio and worked in a bipartisan way to manage the finances in the state of ohio where we have the highest rating on our bonds and investment and voluntarily cut our budget two years in a row. >> i would emphasize that he

voted with his own party -- he voted with them 96% of the time. the only time he doesn't is if the interest group does not have a better offer. he voted against his leadership to satisfy the pay lenders and raised a lot of money. there is nothing in his elektra records that would show that he ever stands up to his political party on anything significant. >> is there one big area of disagreement you have with mitt romney, mandel? >> it is on defense spending. a lot of republicans say that you cannot cut military spending.

i will do everything i can to be vigilant against the war with radical islam, but we don't need these bases throughout europe. we are not fighting the cold war anymore. we should trim down the bases we have in europe and bring home the young men and women. use that money to fund medicare. >> colleen has the next question. >> he said that you sign legislation to ban abortion without exception. what is your opinion on cases like rape and? >> -- incest? >> i do support the life of the mother and this is an issue that is a very divisive issue, and this is an issue where people are very passionate on both sides.

and i respect that. i am pro-life but i understand that people have different positions. but there are areas of common ground. one of the areas where we can work together, is on the better loss for adoption. we should encourage adoption in the united states of america with federal laws here in the state capital. and taxpayer funding of abortion -- our tax dollars should be used to fund medicare, and social security. and funding the military. they should not be used to fund abortions. sherrod brown is an extremist on the issue and supports using your tax dollars to fund abortion. we should not support abortions in the ninth month of pregnancy. but sheriff brown has an

extremist position. can you explain to the people watching at home tonight, why do you support abortion in the ninth month of pregnancy. >> i have never heard anyone say that to me, judge. unlike josh mandel, my opponent has an extreme position and signed the exceptions for anything, rape and incest. there are tens of thousands of women who get pregnant from rapes every year. it may not be something we want to acknowledged in the end, i will trust of high women to make their health care decisions. >> this is an area where we should find common ground and work together on better

adoption laws, and stop at taxpayer funding of abortion and stop abortion in the ninth month of pregnancy. he is an extremist and out of touch with mainstream ohio. >> i have a quick question for both of you. mr. mandel, if they send obama to the white house and you to the senate, and to you, sen. brown, of romney carries the state but sends you to washington, what do you take away? >> i believe that mitt romney will be the next president but if president obama is reelected, i will work with them and i will work to move the ball down the field economically for the state and our country. if the voters of the state of ohio go in that direction, they

don't want a rubber-stamp, the votes for his party 98% of the time. >> i think if this happens, people sitting back and say, sharon brown -- sherrod brown is his own guy. he fights for his district and i would guess -- it could be a mixed message. but of course i'd work with mitt romney. i can recite a dozen cases we have made this way. >> the coin toss -- i think i got this right, mr. mandel? >> i was inspired to join the marine corps by my grandparents. one of my grandfathers was liberated by allied troops and the other served in the air

force. we can debate like this and we can disagree but when the debate is over. we will shake hands. there will not be any punches thrown or shots fired, nobody will be in jail. but in places throughout the world, that is what happens. the rock the world, people who disagree from different political parties are killed if they lose the election or are thrown in jail, where their kids get kidnapped. the great thing we have in this country as we can disagree and debate in an energetic way but once the election is over, there is a peaceful transfer of power. when i raised my right hand to join the marine corps i raised my hand for the of to defend that freedom, and there has been a lot of accusations and claims going both ways, i would like to thank to people who are watching here today.

one of them is connie schulz, the wife of sen. brown, and my wife. she has been loving and alana, i can't thank you enough. my commitment to the people of this in ohio is that you will have no stronger fighter in washington than josh mandel. i will not stand up for republicans or democrats or lobbyists, i will stand up for your jobs. if sherrod brown was the answer, our problems would be solved long ago. to change washington, we have to change who we send there. my job is doing everything i can to fight for your job. >> thank you for your kind words about my wife. i wish your wife well.

my wife is the audience with my daughter, elizabeth, emily -- 36 weeks pregnant with her first child. in the last hour, you've heard a lot of empty slogans and poll- tested soundbites. i am more interested in getting things done. i have all the state newspapers endorsing me, and the fraternal order of police. i am proud of that. but it is about who stands and fights for the middle class. on medicare -- i think this is an earned benefit people make their entire work lives.

they expect it to be there when we retire. he wants to voucher this and turn it over, for something as important as stafford loans. if it is the communitycollege -- thos kids can get an education on the china currency bill. the biggest jobs bill to pass the senate -- josh mandel doesn't support this. and the auto rescue. the contrast is this clear. mandel supports tax cuts for the richest people, in the hopes some trickles down, and i support focusing on the middle class, and community colleges, auto rescue. >> that concludes our debate. i want to thank our candidates.

with the two candidats and the aarp. thank you for watching and listening. your job is not done. you have until nov. 6 to cast your vote. i am chuck todd with nbc news. goodnight. >> if need be, yes. >> under what conditions? >> if sanctions do not work, if they are close to and about to have the ability to develop a nuclear bomb, we use every option possible, as will israel. that is the last option we would use. >> i think we stand with israel and we did not lead iran develop

a nuclear weapon. >> i cannot think what that would be right now, but we better exhaust everything else. at the end of the day, if that is what is needed, maybe i can wash windshields, but we will have an honest discussion about what is needed. >> with less than two we still election day, followed races on c-span, c-span radio, and cspan.org. >> steve king is running for a sixth term, being challenged by christie vilsack. their hourlong debate was in statewide on isle of public television.

[applause] >> it creates a dramatically different fourth district. we are joining sioux city and the previously predominantly rural district, but steve king has been representing in the congress the last six years. he has been adding a fifth term with two-thirds of the votes cast two years ago. redistricting, bringing in ames county with the iowa state demographics may be diluting that republican dominance. that is what christie vilsack might have been helping for developing candidacy for the seat. she has been traveling the state as first lady during her husband's eight years as

governor. both of you are welcome -- both of you are familiar with the format. we are in a different setting in carol. they promised to not cheer at all. we do not want to hear from them, but there will be cheering at the beginning and end it. the questions will be coming from a sioux city journal writer and kate henderson. >> you tell the democrats you were running to prove being a woman was no longer a barrier to public office in iowa. are you asking voters to set aside consideration of your views on issues and a vote for you because you are a woman?

>> i think the delegation will be stronger and i am from one of two states who have neve relected a woman. being a small-time person. and being 62 years old is something i bring to this. this makes me a candidate that provides a different view, and i think that this shows my temperament and temperament is going to be important in this race. i think that there are times in our nation's history where you need people who are resolute and dig their heels in, but this is not that time. it was addressed by a man who approached me at the greene county fair. i am not a democrat or a republican, i am and american. i want to go to congress as an american and not a partisan. i bring that lens as a woman

and there are many issues i want to address that are very important. >> mr. king, when you were speaking with iowa republicans, you said that she is left of san francisco and you said that democrats and to create chaos and order to gain power. can you explain that? >> i said they profit from chaos with fiscal irresponsibility. you look at the groups supporting mrs. vilsack and spending hundreds of thousands -- they are left of san francisco. one is the anti-meat lobby. this is not a centrist running against a conservative. if you look at the positions -- and with regard to the women

issue, i got women voted to office, and i nominated kim reynolds. the last woman to run for congress was marianne miller- meeks. i campaigned for her and vilsack worked against her. >> why did you call attention to your age? >> there comes a time when you don't care what people think, but i need the votes of 700,000 people, but this is an aspect i bring to congress. i am someone already. i want to get things done. >> the implication is that you are in congress to "be someone."

>> if anyone wants to look at my record, they know i'm moving the iowa agenda. and you don't just go there and put up a vote that best represents iowans. i take that beyond those limits. it would be a relatively easy thing to vote the district and sit in your office and work to get reelected. to take it to another level -- you have to sell iowa values. >> you know, congressman king has said that his agenda moved this country to the left. -- to the right. i want to represent the 750,000 people in the district and grow the economy. we lost a congressperson.

>> let's talk about the economy. >> looking at the economy -- what can you do to accelerate the economy? >> i said i am focused on the local and i start with the local. i see the world as this district -- with teachers. -- through the lense of a teacher. i see my job much as i would on the first day of school. i would look at these counties as 39 entities and would make sure that they all maximize their potential. i have laid out my plan for layers of economic opportunity. i carry a football with me to create another level of the bio-economy, within 10-15 miles of small towns.

>> many wonder about the football? >> it is made of soybeans. and most cars are from detroit and the seats are made of this. with plastic bottles or using this to create asphalt. we can make that within 10-15 miles. >> in 2013-2014, what will stimulate the economy? >> i introduced the first piece of legislation for biodiesel and represent the biggest renewable energy. government has to get out of the way so entrepreneurs can have their way. what the government needs to do is have a low, stable, predictable tax rate. we have to lower our regulation burden. when i was in business, 43

agencies regulated my trade. there is not a single company that says -- we are proud to comply with federal regulations. eventually, they would be shut down. >> what year would you say the economy will be reocvered with acceptable employment. >> we don't know who will win. if i knew that, i would be more bold. if we win the majority. we'll hold it in the house, win the senate and mitt romney is president -- by the time he is up for reelection, unemployment will drop 1.5 points.

>> what is an acceptable rate? >> 2%, which is a full employment economy. i would try to drive it down -- >> where would you put it nationally? >> we can get it around 4%. >> one of the problems we have is gridlock in congress. congressman king has not done much in his 10 years. we need a farm bill to start with. that is the most important piece of legislation to people in this room --

>> is that going to effect unemployment? >> i think it will. the farm bill, people feel insecure and are not investing. it is hard for farmers to go to the bank. it is hard for young farmers to know what the rules are. so there is the insecurity. it is not just the farm bill. >> let me interrupt. we will get into a deeper discussion. what is an acceptable rate of unemployment? >> it is 2% on the west and 5% on the other end of the district. if we can get this down -- >> and what year are we talking? >> you can't know unless you can say that congress will get something done. nothing will happen without a

jobs bill. >> let me ask one more thing. how long should unemployed men and women be entitled to unemployment. >> this helps protect people in the downturn, but you have to make sure people don't continue to depend on those. you have to make sure that we have a recovery. >> how long should the unemployment benefits be continued? >> i did not hear an answer from her, my answer is 26 weeks. this has been extended out to 99 weeks, and we need to understand that there is not a lot of return on that investment, there are people who are 63, and this is an early retirement. and job skills atrophy because -- we have the five people -- we know when unemployment runs out and we're there to hire them. this is not a good return on the investment.

the safety net has been 26 weeks. >> i am coming back to you to answer that question. >> i don't think we need to have a definite time on the. we have to take a look at the recovery and make sure that we take care of people who have been unemployed. the answer to this is to take care of the gridlock and actually get something done. nothing has begun -- been done in congress and many told the people there responsible. if we send the same people back this is not going to happen. we need a farm bill and

immigration reform bill, and nothing has happened in congress. this is the most ineffective congress in the history of congress and he is one of the most ineffective congress people in our delegation. >> mrs. vilsack, as a catholic, how has your view on abortion been shaped by religion? >> i am episcapalian. my husband is a cathlic, my children are catholics. we raise our children as catholics. i am happy to talk about my view on abortion. it is that it should be safe, legal, and rare. rareworked hard on the part, because i wanted to make

sure this is not just something that divides us politically, and that i would work to make sure we reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and helped unemployed men and women get a job. i work with an organization that does research and now has the beginning evidence to show that we have reduced the number of abortions in iowa by 26% and unintended pregnancies by 8%. i have been in washington talking about the results of this and we hope that this will be a model for the nation. we won't have to talk about abortion if we make sure that people have access to contraceptives. i would like congressman king to explain what his view is on that. he has said that -- i would like to know if he believes that women in this community have the right to -- the legal right to go into the drugstore with a

prescription for birth control pills, and get some of the long acting contraceptives at the local family planning clinic and i don't think he has made his position clear on this. >> it is brazen to make it such a misstatement here. this is manufactured from the other side of the aisle. this follows as far as the president of the united states with what they put out earlier today. there is a case called griswald vs. conn. this was 1965, when the supreme court said that there is a constitutional requirement, that prohibited the states from banning the sale of contraceptives. i accept that as constitutional, and we tell people to go something they can be constructive with.

but this is constructive and a difference between us that is not manufactured. we have babies in america and iowa that are aborted because they are baby girls and the mother wants a baby girl -- a baby boy in said of a girl. this is -- the people of by what did not care about this. i think it matters to a low girls that are being aborted. >> do you believe in the right to privacy which was put forward with griswold vs. connecticut? >> this is an important question for people to know -- >> i accept the decision of griswald. >> i take that as a no. >> then you misunderstand it.

>> do you support an amendment to the u.s. constitution, the person had amendment that was proposed in the state of mississippi and failed? >> i would look at the language of that, but generally speaking, if so inclined to be supportive of the finding -- defining life at the conception and the catholic church in the five basic positions of the church with embryonic stem cell research. i would want to see the language. >> if you years ago you showed a scale model of a wall that

should be built on the southern border with mexico. do you still feel that this is the way to go? >> people said we cannot build a wall. i said, i would get down to the tinker toys and show them. i put together a model and said, this is how we do it. we could build a mile of this per day. this puts aside the argument, that we have 5,500 miles of the great wall of china, but my position is that we do not need 200,000 miles of wall, we just do that until they start going around the end. >> is this a concrete barrier? or a brief explanation? >> when the president ridiculed the wall, he was 600 feet from the fences and the walls and the most down along the border. i would describe this as a kind of concrete system with the foundational trench, and the concrete panels, and if you build the wall up you have to

have routes on either side, with the chain-link fence by the border. we are spending $12 billion -- $6 billion per mile. >> talking about immigration is what we're talking about. president obama -- if you join congress which be supportive of this trend continuing? >> the most important thing is to secure the borders, and do whatever we need to do so that people are not crossing the border illegally, and drugs are not crossing illegally. i think we need to make sure that jobs are going to americans and we need immigration reform. we need to make sure that there is a pathway to citizenship for the 13 million people who are

here, in the shatters -- shadows. and the people who are here -- they have a chance to live the american dream because many of them have offered their lives for their country. congressman king talked about the terms of electricity and use the language of this reprehensible and embarrassing to the people of iowa, that says we can use cattle prods on animals so why not of electricity on people. >> that is a false statement and i will not respond to it. >> there are several communities within your district, that have a large influx of non-in list -- english speaking people, there are several communities like that. do you think these people need federal assistance in the way

that the military assists with the military base, and the influx of children into the school districts. do you think that communities should get special assistance when they are in that sort of mind? >> i graduated high school in denison, and those are the community's most likely to ask for that. i do know that we have glasses that are going on right now, -- classes going on right now and i don't know that there is a shortfall of that kind of service. i will not commit to anything

intel i am sure that there is a need. >> mrs. vilsack, you heard this -- special population groups? >> gov. ray brought the southeast asian families here and we had a good way to make them part of the community. churches were working with the families. at the state level -- we created iowa centers that helped with these issues to fill the buffer. this is an interesting idea. i don't know exactly how you'd move it forward, but it is interesting to contemplate. >> mr. king, are you planning to sue -- you said you wanted to sue president obama over the

change in policy that young people would not be deported. >> he violated the constitution like gov. vilsack, he cannot do that with memorandum, and this was bogging people down. >> where do you stand on that? >> in the process? there are plaintiffs who won't come on until after the election. i will hold the suit up until after the election and we will get the suit filed. >> the answer is -- we wouldn't have this issue if congress had done their job. one branch doesn't work well and another steps in. i think the president took a

necessary step. >> we will see a couple of commercials right now, the first from mrs. vilsack's campiagn. >> i am christie vilsack and i approve this message. ♪ >> mr. king, mrs. vilsack has called you an embarassment to iowa. do some of the quotes embarrass you? >> i've said by the time i

eliminated the questions and dishonesty, the only thing left was "i'm christie vilsack and i approve this message." the one that is true, was about the vote on hurricane katrina. there will be all kinds of wasted funds. it is a principled vote and it will be easy to vote on. king was right -- this is the sioux city's response. the balance of that is false. i have had better votes since then. voting against obamacare, voting against cap and trade, dodd- frank, those were better votes, but the rest of those allegations are false.

>> he is one of 11 congressmen who took a vote against hurricane katrina relief. i think that everything i said in that ad is true. we have researched all of it. these are congressman king's own words. >> and he is using one to define mrs. vilsack. >> what does it mean if mrs. vilsack calls for tax increases? she is for increasing taxes on job creators and in this stagnant economy, christie vilsack will effect -- >> mr. king, you've seen the ad.

>> that's the first time i've seen that, but am happy to respond. mrs. vilsack wants the tax increase to kick in on millionares, and many of them are job creators and small businesspeople. >> mrs. vilsack, you've asked for it to be pulled. >> i never said i wanted to raise taxes except on millionares. it is not about small businesses. one reason they run that ad is because i talk about how i want to rebuild the middle class. i want to make sure we have economic opportunities and -- with millionares raising more. the proposal dave vilsack -- he

talked about suspending the tax issues for small businesses -- would be something that is a good idea. >> another ad people are seeing, a photo of you and of nancy pelosi. how do you respond when folks like congressman king accuse you of being a nancy pelosi clone. >> one of the things about this district -- i represented it for eight years. i see every small town in this district as my hometown, the town i grew up in. all the people in this district -- friends and neighbors -- that is why am. i am iowa. >> you accused her of being to the left of saying francisco --

in response to her saying she represents iowa? >> i did not hear the answer to the question -- that was about nancy pelosi. this is what i know. i know that if christie vilsack is elected to the united states congress, the first vote she would put up would be the vote for nancy pelosi. you have to stand up and you have to shout the name of the personnel you vote for for speaker of the house. that is the question -- i did not hear the answer. >> first of all, we have no idea whether nancy pelosi be a candidate for speaker of the house. there may be other people. i would never presume before i had a job to answer a question like that. i would take into consideration the other people who might be

interested in the job. i'll make the decision at that time. there is no assurance that would vote for nancy pelosi or anybody else until i get the job. >> one thing about ads are both running -- we to accuse the other of not being a person who embodies iowa values. i would like each of you to in one sentence to describe to me what iowa values are. >> iowa values are faith and family and freedom and smart hard work and free enterprise. all the wealth comes from the land. we value that as closely as we can, as many times this weekend. it is a work ethic and faith ethic. that is why i have gone into -- i live here and my roots are here. i did not move here to run this race. i will live here after november, whatever happens. >> i did a tour called the value of work and asked people around the district about bodies we had in common. i knew this would be a race that was divisive.

they said the value of work is important. the value of service to the country, the value of stewardship of the land, family, and education, actually. people who i talked to said education is central to who we are in iowa. those of some of the basic values. i think i heard congressman king say the same thing. i do not think we are that far apart on what we would agree on in terms of what our basic values are. >> he accuse you of being a carpetbagger. what is your response to that? >> all of these towns, i represent everything in this district for eight years. all of the towns and people in

them feel -- >> as iowa's first lady? >> yes. i travelled the country, traveling and representing people in the whole state, certainly in this district. i represented everybody in the district. congressman king represented 40%. i represent the values of this district. >> mrs. vilsack, do you feel comfortable about some of the things portrayed in the ad -- would you like to have them along your side campaigning for you? >> i am not sure what you are talking about. >> the humane society, their views on pork production, would you like to have been campaigning alongside you? >> i have not taken money from the humane society, if you are suggesting that. congressman king suggested that. i cannot and do not take money from anybody who does business -- the humane society, every single town in iowa has a humane society and people are pointing

there and helping to take care of animals. i think it depends on what you are talking about. >> congressman king -- some of these ads, the first we saw was done by one of your campaign. are you concerned about how issues are being framed by ads by outside groups, particularly, how would you like the issues to be framed? >> i knew this would happen. that is why i said a year-and- a-half ago when the announcement came out that this would be a holy war. i said, i will learn things about myself i do not yet know. they will spend millions of dollars attacking my reputation -- that turned out to be true. i knew this would be the first super pac collection iowa has experienced in a congressional race. one of the reasons i did this many debates is because this is the way to penetrate through

that. i did not think we could offset all that spending. if you send back a $1,000 check, you do not get to wash your hands and say, they are nice people who are part of that community who made this ad. local people who take care of these lost animals are not affiliated with hsus. are people i've done it too. there is a big difference. this is a stark gap. the u.s. humane society has a legislative agenda that spends 1% helping pac's, driving a legislative agenda that is anti- meat, that does not sell well in this district. >> nobody likes a pork chop better than i do -- i want to say that. over these expenditures, we have no control. one of the things i was most proud to do and accomplish was to change campaign finance law.

something like the disclose act, which -- the system is broken. it is broken like a broken arm. it is not terminal, but we need to fix it and i would like to be part of that. there is way too much money in politics. when i see these ads on tv i am seeing them for the first time. these are not organizations that i am connected with. in terms of the advertising. >> mr. king, i have a question about taxes. let's say in 2013 you are appointed tax czar to establish u.s. tax policy. what would you do? >> i have opposed the czars, but it would be a tempting appointment -- the first thing i would do is make the bush tax brackets permanent so there is long-term predictability. then i would go to work to sell to the public the idea that, as

ronald reagan said, the federal government has the first lien on productivity and punishes production -- we remove all taxes off of production and put them on consumption. we can transform this policy. that is a piece i have gone around and talked about. i've talked about it each year i have been in congress. i asked mrs. vilsack to debate that with me, but i did not get an invitation.

.

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> just recently actually 164

firefighters were laid off as part of this downsizing, as part of the effort to get the finances under control in the city. firefighters, which detroit needs, i think it must have the heist case of arson in the country. these guys are laid off. about two months later they were rehired the department of homeland security has a fund for things like that. i don't want to overstate. that is something you want to think about. the department of homeland security needed to step in to keep detroit as safe as it can be for the moment. it could be a lot safer. we're talking about -- i wondered making this film, we have seen the autoindustry bailout, the bank bailout. are we heading into an era of bail out the city?

is there such a thing as a failed city? >> heidi ewing sunday at 8:00 on c-span's "q & & a". >> former senator george mcgovern died sunday at the age 90. vice president joe biden was in attendance. >> ♪

>> ♪

>> ♪ >> the lord is the light of my salvation whom shall i fear. the lord is the stronghold of my life. of whom shall i be afraid. blessed be the lord. the lord is my strength and shield and whom my heart trusts.

friends, we are gathered this evening to give thanks to god for the gift of the life of george mcgovern. we gather in this place of prayer to ask god to bring peace to his family and to each one of us present in this time of grief and loss. we gathered to remember the faithful and committed life, who shared his life and friendships with god, serving his country, and touching people's lives around the world. we gather to open ourselves to god's healing come through the gift of prayer, music, and the gift of story that combines our community together. this time i invite james doyle to open with a prayer. >> let's pray.

my brothers and sisters, we believe that all the ties of friendship and affection which need us together throughout our lives do not unravel with death. confident that god always hears and remembers the good we have done and forgives offenses, in our grief, we turn to you. are you not the god of love who opens your ears to all? listen to our prayers for your servant, george stanley mcgovern. leave him to your kingdom of peace and count him among the saints in glory.

lord, our redeemer, you willingly gave yourself up to death so we might be saved. we humbly ask you to comfort your servants and hand maids in their grief and to receive george into the arms of your mercy. you are the holy one, and you are mercy itself. by your dying, you unlocked the gates of life for those who believe in you. forgive george any of his sins and grant him a place of happiness, life and peace in the kingdom of your glory forever and ever. amen.

>> ♪ the moment we said goodbye the river bed lay wide and dry as far as i can see someone said my ghost was found laying her burden down taking the long way around

underneath the moon somewhere on the prairie a little cross a simple wooden marker with a plastic rose entwined and in the stillness of the twilight while the tumbleweeds watch i am crawling across the melancholy

threat wild birds chase you in grief let them make their nest with words like please put those dreams to rest i was the fragrance in the wildflower in the delicate hours 10,000 years from now

you will put your hand in mine full of melancholy times we will go where ravens fly our laughter made the angels cry to high in as free as you and i

somewhere on the prairie across a road, a sideline standing for true love gone before its time there goes your shadow down the highway of that road i couldn't find but i crawl like a scorpion slowly to the new world across these miles of prairie full of melancholy times ♪

[applause] >> tonight i accept your nomination with a full and grateful heart. [applause] in the scripture and music of our children we are told to

everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven, and for america, the time has come at last. we are entering a new time of the important and hopeful change in america. we must show that peace and prosperity can exist side by side. each now depends on the existence of the other. national strength improves the credibility of our system in the eyes of our own people as well as the credibility in the eyes of others abroad. national security include school for our children as well as silos for our missiles. it includes the health of our family as much as the size of our bombs, the safety of our city, and if we choke on the

pollution of our error, there will be little consolation of leaving behind a dying continent . while protecting ourselves abroad, let us form a more perfect union at home, and now is the time. this is the time for that task. the question is what standard does the loyal opposition now rally? we do not rally for the support of policies and we deplore. [applause] we do love this country, and we will continue to beckon it to a higher standard. [applause]

so i ask all of you tonight to stand with your convictions. i ask you not to despair of the political process of this country. the nation will be better because we never gave up the long battle to renew its oldest ideals and to redirect its current energy along more humane and hopeful paths. so let's play familiar words i quoted so frequently. they that wait upon the lord shall renew their strength. they shall run and not be weary. god bless you. [applause]

>> thank you for being here. first of all i would like to begin by acknowledging the incredible music of east of westerville. this is one of george mcgovern's favorite bands. he talked about these folks all the time. thank you all so much for your incredible gift of music to this ceremony. mr. vice president, on behalf of the mcgovern family and on behalf of the broader family of south dakota, thank you for being here and showing your respect to our native son. [applause]

about three weeks ago i had the privilege i have had routinely for the last few years to enjoy a meal with my friend george mcgovern, and i tell you this by way of an introduction and now to the next speaker. the president of dakota wesleyan university. i went to lunch with senator mcgovern, and we started talking about the liberator, the decoder queen, and of course, he flew 35 missions. the only reason he only threw 35

-- flew 35 missions is because the war ended. he would have flown more, but he flew in a number of different planes, and he named them all the other co the queen. always they have the same name, and i said to him, i have an idea. let's buy the dakota clean, -- queen, restore it and bring it back and put it in front of dozens mcgovern library. what an attraction it would be. he smiled and he looked at me and he said, i have a story to tell you. whenever he said that, you just sat back and loved it. he said at the end of the war he had been instructed to catch the latest plane he had flown, the bullet holes, and fly it back in as pristine condition as he could manage, and so he did

that, and then he went back to mitchell, and he started to teach and did not think much about the dakota queen. one night he and ellenor went to a movie. this newsreel was about what happened to the bombers in world war ii after they came back, specifically the be twenty-four's known as liberators, and they look at the screen as they watched and learned there is a place called of boneyard where these airplanes went after they had been crushed, and he looked at the newsreel and there, the nose of the dakota queen came up as it was being crushed, and he stopped and turned to me and said, i believe i can locate the queen, but she is not prepared for display.

[laughter] the president of george mcgovern's alma mater, the place where he went to teach, bob duffette was at his bedside every time i went to see george mcgovern. bob is a great leader, not only for george mcgovern's institution but for all of south dakota. i'm delighted to present him to you. would you share your remembrances? [applause] >> dakota wesleyan university, the city of mitchell, all of you in the state of south dakota lost a dear friend.

george mcgovern, age 90, d.w.u. class of 1946 died early sunday morning, october 21, this past week. as a congressman and a senator and a democratic candidate for the presidency in 1972, he gained international fame. as i view his life, three talents all grounded in the soil of south dakota may account for his meteoric rise. first, george was an exceedingly bright man. this was a gift of a birth, yet he developed this by reading and writing two habits that sharpens intellect. he wrote books and articles and speeches almost to the very last day of his life. what nature gave, and george developed.

by his own admission, george was very shy, not the type of person attracted to debates or politics, yet through the one, he found the other. a teacher suggested this painfully shy boy join the extroverted debate team. he flourished and became a nationally renowned college debater. later as a professor of history, he was our debate coach as well. love of history is his third talent, and from my perspective, this was his best talent. it set him apart from almost every other politician. he knew instinctively that any

contemporary problem or crisis a trail of past events or factors. for instance, george was no passivist. he knew evil sometimes exists, and what is -- war is no way to counter it. he was against the war in vietnam because the vietnamese like americans in 1976, sought independence and autonomy. his study of history gave him this penetrating and prophetic insight. last, it was his religious faith that brought together these three talents. the wesleyan methodist church of

his father called people to personal faith and activated them to do something useful in the world. for george, the useful part derived from the universal moral imperatives from the sunday school lessons and stories he learned as a youth like feed huck hungry, clothe the naked, learn war no more. he carried a reticence about personal faith, but he lifted our moral vision and some in society to a higher ethical plane. some say george was the greatest humanitarian and peacemaker of our era.

this is why we honor him by naming our library and a museum for him. it all began here in south dakota, yet his impact had a worldwide involvement. jesus's words may best be a fitting epitaph for his life. blessed are the peacemakers. blessed are the peacemakers. they are the sons of god. [applause]

>> on behalf of the mcgovern family, i would like to thank the hon oregon guard, members of the city of sioux falls, the south dakota highway patrol and the air national guard for the respect they paid to one of our beloved veterans of world war ii. the one thing we know is that george mcgovern always knew from his days wearing the country's uniform to the early party building efforts, all the way through to just a few weeks ago at the south dakota and symphony orchestra, a george always knew it was not about him

and we might have thought it was about him. we were drawn to him. he regarded it was about the causes of the brought people together, people with a passion to commit themselves to making a difference, to improving the human condition, and he knew it spanned across many generation across south dakota and across the country. it did in mine. it did in a lot of the families i see this evening, and it was always such a blessing to feel you are part of this legacy, and he made you feel that way. i see the vice president is joined by hunter biden, and when i see my contemporaries, like hunter, who is head of food organization, and the head of

international development, and i am sure each of us will cherish the times we have had with george mcgovern in person and on the phone, and we got to share his sense of humor as he shared his experiences to inspire those us to seize opportunities to alleviate hunger and malnutrition, and from that 1972 campaign, this is brain power that was drawn to be part of that campaign. each of whom had a chance to get to know the mcgovern family, to know what he stood for, and as

my good friend and would say, the credentials to go out and to do good in the world, so whether it is directly for us to get the words of wisdom directly from george mcgovern for those who like marshall or the individual i am going to interview in just a moment, they were empowered through those experiences the understanding to share with the next generation, and george knows they have an obligation to keep doing the same, because that is the legacy of this great man that will endure. we are so pleased that someone who has made sure of legacy and

the commitment to civil rights, standing up for social justice and doing it throughout the course of his lifetime could serve as the national finance director, doing through direct mail what we are now entering through youtube and the internet through communicating and fund raising but then taking that experience to make a difference, as an advocate for social justice. i would invite the founder of the law center to share his remembrances. [applause]

>> thank you so much for the kind words. something didn't do with myself. i did it with the help of joy mcgovern in a big, big way. he is a spokesperson for the southern law party center for over 40 years. tonight and tomorrow, you'll hear a lot about senator mcgovern. our dear friend, george. i want to talk to you about what made me spend one year working for him in 1972. the thing that will go down as his legacy. it was his fight against the war in vietnam. george mcgovern spoke truth to power.

he probably made one of the most courageous speeches any united states senator, maybe any politician ever made in 1970 in the well of the united states senate and i want to read you a couple words from that speech. every senator in this chamber is partially responsible for sending 50,000 americans to the grave. this chamber reeks of blood. every senator here is partially responsible for the human wreckage at walter reed in bethesda and across our nation and our land, a young man without legs or arms or genitals or faces or hope. after he made that speech, several senators approached him

angrily and said, you personally offended us. and he said, "i intended to." george mcgovern was not a loser of that election. the american people were the loser because we did not heed his message. when barack obama was elected, the first thing since -- george mcgovern did was urge him to immediately end the war in iraq and afghanistan and he did not heed that message. the last book that senator mcgovern wrote was, "what it means to be a democrat." i will always treasure that.

-- the inscription in the book to my wife susan and i. came to our house and about 200 people gathered. we talked about his book. in a book that should be required reading and i see you nodding your head out there. this is the time for us to heal our nation and to deliver on her promises as we see it. the republic that is good to all. he said, it is not for nothing that i go to my grave believing that our country is one of the greatest countries on earth. he did something very unusual. he invited millions of americans to make small contributions to his campaign, the first time

that had been done because no wealthy donors would support him. why go for $25 when you can get $50,000? i had the honor of being his finance chairman, fundraiser, my dear friend jeff smith here and i worked hard getting those letters out. and on the first page it was the ending of that letter which he incorporated. he said any time -- the ancient words of ecclesiastes, to everything there is a season, and to every purpose and to the heavens. i believe this is the time to heal, time to build up, a time to cast away the stones of war

and gather the stones for building. a time to speak, not a time for peace. i got a call to come because they said george might not live much longer. this was about three months ago. jeff smith and i went down and he was vibrant and took us out to dinner, and as we stood at the door going away, he said, boys, i'm going to live to be 100. i got 10 more years because i got a lot of things to do. well, joyce, it is a time for you to rest. because we will heed your message. and to paraphrase shakespeare

and romeo and juliet. i'm not the first to do this. bobby kennedy did also at a eulogy for his brother. and i will paraphrase shakespeare and maybe he will forgive me. i pray that the angels shall take you, george mcgovern, and cut you up into little stars. and sprinkle you in heaven's so that the world will be in love with the night. amen. [applause]

>> ♪ one, two, three i am a pilgrim and a stranger traveling through this weariesome land i've got a home in that yonder city

and it's not made by hands i've goat a father, sister and a brother i'm returning to go and see them they're on that distant shore ♪

as i go down to that river of jordan if i could i believe it would makemy me whole i am a pilgrim and a stranger

traveling through this weariesome land it's not made by hands and it's not not made by hands ♪ [applause] >> george mcgovern may have been the most modest and gracious human being that any of us have ever known.

he and jim had an interest in two things. one is politics and the other is baseball. jim abner coached the team and george mcgovern loved the st. louis cardinals. george mcgovern lost two races later in his life. the race for the presidency against richard nixon and then the race for the united states senate against jim adler. he is probably the most gracious and modest person any of us have ever known and that is true. he got a lot of attention. bob dole wrote a letter to the new york times in the wake of his passing talking about the fact that george mcgovern and attended pat nixon's funeral.

no one was more surprised than richard nixon when george mcgovern showed up. what a lot of people do not know is george mcgovern of's passion for baseball also involved going to our minor league team. as matt mcgovern will tell you, when he would drive his grandpa to the canaries games, he would say, let's go by the village. you know who he picked up? he picked up jim adler. the guy who beat him in the race for a fourth term in the united states senate. this gracious, humble giant of a man insisted they pick him up and take him to the baseball game. not once, but several times. they would sit there and enjoy baseball. a common love, two giants of the prairie. matthew, i love to hear you tell that story. it is just so wonderful. they of that in today's polarized politics. how does someone like that come

to be? what a tremendous example. he set an example for other leaders in the prairie. leaders like tom daschle. hubert humphrey, a leader vice-president of the united states. all really mastered the art of leadership, of standing tall. it did not just extend to elected leaders. if you look at the senior staff, and the vice president would be the first to attest to that. it is my privilege to introduce one of the real giants of that trade. steve hildebrand was not only the 2000 i was chairman for the gore campaign but the deputy national campaign manager for

the obama-biden campaign. he is a giant in this profession and has been a stalwart for the mcgovern family for all this time. i ask hildy to come up and visit with us. [applause] >> i am so humbled to be here. this is going to be hard. i will never forget your invitation to join your family's hospice facility to be with our hero. my family is like millions of american families and probably millions of families all over the world. we do not even know who needed george mcgovern's advocacy to make it to the middle class. i grew up the youngest of nine

kids. my father died when i was 7, i'm sorry, when i was 5, leaving seven of us kids at home. he never talked about the fact that we were democrats. because we just knew we were democrats. democrats fought for us. it was george mcgovern and his advocacy for programs like pell grants, student loans that allowed my family to go to school. it was social security and medicine care that helped my mother along the way. when i was 10, i remember my mom taking us down in front of the corn palace for the mcgovern for president rally. i got to shake his hand. that's where it all started. when i was 18, graduating from

high school, heading up to south dakota state, george was in the last race for the u.s. senate. and now loss is what has solidified it. i was never going to put my life on hold and not help candidates who are going to fight for people like my family. that was a tough race. it was a tough loss. but it made the decision for me to go advocate for people like george mcgovern. and what an honor i have had for 26 years working for tom daschle and tim johnson and skip humphrey and al gore and bill clinton, joe biden, barack obama. george mcgovern paved the way for this.

there is a couple of us that once in awhile get in trouble in this room for speaking more than we probably should. [laughter] i'm one of them. but george mcgovern taught me more than anything else was you speak your mind. more politicians on both sides should learn more from george mcgovern. he taught us that you work hard and you work together to get things done. his advocacy with bob dole and so many others got things accomplished in this country, and we're not there anymore. there is a song that i listened to constantly probably more than i should. i've listened to it over and

over again that there is a line in it about joy and renewal. that is what i get out of george mcgovern. i get a tremendous amount of joy and personal time together for stories. he never stopped advocating for main street and mitchell. he would come into my restaurant and there he was, he would say steve, we're going to do about mitchell? we have to fix up that main street. by renewal. this is it. this is such a great time for renewal. we can look at things a little bit better, a little bit differently by reflecting on his life and everything he advocated for an all day long today, people have come through this church, modest people, famous people, it did not really matter. they would stop and they would tell their stories about george mcgovern. this guy, at 90, never stopped.

he never stopped helping advocating, writing, speaking. what an amazing person and i am so proud to be a friend of his and to have a chance to be so close friends with susan and and and other members of the family. thank you. [applause] >> george so loved eleanor. we all have been privileged to hear the stories that george would share over the years about eleanor. so many of the stories he would leave in the wisdom, the care, the love that eleanor shared with him with their children, with their grandchildren.

george mcgovern knew the importance of having strong women on your side. when george was out there, a grassroots, building the democratic party in south dakota, articulating a vision about the importance of two parties putting ideas on the table for voters to evaluate, he inspired so many but this dynamic group of women in south dakota who knew what it took to implement that vision, to build the foundation, the infrastructure to get that job done. and boy, to introduce our next guest to share remembrancer, stories about her proceed her because of the type of anchor she is.

someone who knows what needs to be done and efficiently goes about getting the job done in a caring, compassionate, reliable, understanding why. -- way. someone who is part of pioneering the party building that was so essential in our state. that worked side-by-side with george mcgovern and his family, continued to be such a close friend and part of that family and a confidant. someone we know that is a mate arkansas -- matriarch of the south dakota democratic party, particularly in sioux falls. bernice mayer. could you come up here and

share. [applause] >> i used to have to do this for eleanor. and susan. thank you for the honor of being part of this evening. as we remember your father, george mcgovern. there were times when we took your father away from you. sometimes we took her father and her mother. sometimes we needed to meld ourselves as unobtrusively as possible with your family. to you, he was your father, your grandfather, and great-grandfather, and a sister-in-law. to the rest of the world, he was

an inspirational, dedicated, and honest public official. there are more than 20 former senate staff members and campaign staff gathered here tonight. most of us have worked as volunteers for the democrats before we became staff members. we did this because we believed in the senator's vision. we admired his courage, and most of all, we cared about the same kind of people he did. we shared a common interest in public issues in expressing them to the public and in helping promote the candidacy of the person we respected and loved. in november of 1963, i attended the convention of the national association of mental health in washington, d.c. our group met with the junior senator for south dakota, george mcgovern.

he hosted us for lunch in the senate dining room. halfway through the meal, a signal was sent for all the senators to report to the floor. that date was november 22, 1963. the day that john kennedy was shot. shortly thereafter, i received a letter from local democrats inviting me to talk about issues and how to address them. i remember bill telling me if i wanted to promote my issues, i needed to find candidate to promote them and then get the votes to elect them. of course, bill was right. political activity began in 1964 with the secretary of the local county democratic party. in 1965, a gathering of local

democrats met at bill's home. at that time, federal office holders were allowed to participate in partisan politics. the group included judge francis dunn, judge fred, both of whom had been appointed by president kennedy. another member was mike sherman who served as the first campaign chairman in 1956. he was later elected the mayor of sioux falls. much of the heavy lifting was done by george cunningham, his chief of staff. his son christopher is here with us tonight. judy harrington arrived in sioux falls in february of 1973. she set up constituent field offices in six cities. one person per office. in those days, we shared an

office with the staff. i went to work and the senate staff in 1975. i was privileged to be a member of the state staff and it was special and the senator was back in state. he enjoyed driving my buick regal, speeding down the road, smoking a cigar with the window down. a typical day was spent going to scotland to visit the plant. we then drove north on highway 37 10 miles south. he said he was short of cash. this was before credit cards and a.t.m. machines. we stopped at the bank and he filled out a counter check and the banker gave him the money.

we motored on to mitchell where his family was waiting at their lake home. at another time, ralph morse, the president of the local trade and labor assembly stopped at the office to arrange a speaking engagement with the senator. ralph stopped by often to drink coffee and chat. he looked out the window and he saw my car, a red honda. it was parked in the parking lot. he told me i could not bring the senator to the labor temple in a foreign car. i could not park in their parking lot. i assured him would not. we would park on fairfax avenue out on the street which we did. this year in august we had a gathering to celebrate the senator's 90th birthday. i told the senator, i came to his 90th party because he had come to my 80th party last year.